New Allies
by Soului
Summary: A certain powerful entity has decided that Eragon and Co need help. Crossover! This is probably the first fic of it's kind. Title sucks, I know. I'll take any suggestions you have. Rated T for no reason other than being safe and possible violence.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Animorphs Eragon Crossover! Quite possibly the first in existence, as far as I know. Sounds weird, I know, but I'll find a way for it to work. The Animorphs are in Eragon's world, what else can I say? The story takes place about half way through the Animorphs series (haven't really decided yet), and after Eldest.

Animorphs Overview: the Animorphs are 5 normal kids until one day when they're walking home from the mall and they cut through an abandoned construction site. There they witness a crash landing of an alien spaceship with one alien (whose race is the Andalites) who tells them that Earth is slowly being taken over by slug like creatures called Yeerks who enter a human through the ear and take over their body. Elfangor (the andalite) then gives them the power to morph, to absorb the DNA of any animal they touch and become that animal. A bit later in the series they meet Ax, Elfangor's younger brother, who joins them. Also later in the series, they meet an almost all-powerful being called the Ellimist, who is in an eons long battle against his evil counterpart, Crayak. Think ultimate good vs. ultimate evil.

Disclaimer: I don't own Eragon or Animorphs. They belong to Christopher Paolini and K.A. Applegate respectively

Anyway, on to chapter 1

White, everything was white. Up, down, left, right, directions didn't matter here, it was all the same. As far as corporal creatures were concerned, inside was the same as outside, upside down the same as right side up. If you or I were there, we would find to our horror that organs were visible, movement impossible, and oxygen non-existent, not that breathing would be necessary. Indeed it would seem to be a world of nothingness if not for the thousand, thousand chessboards flying through the empty space. Nothing was holding them up, nor apparently controlling them, yet they seemed to move with purpose and design. All seemed to spin in concert with each other while rotating slowly all the time. And impossibly, at the very center of this great vortex, two figures sat, watching the parade of chessboards. Neither moved, nor made any action other than to telepathically move the chess pieces around them. Sometimes two or three pieces would move at once or entire boards would just disappear. While other times, one player or the other would create an entirely new piece or switch a board's order in the line. The rules of this strange game seemed impossible for any to understand, save the two playing. Indeed, it was truly incomprehensible.

The Ellimist tensed internally, though his (for he was in the guise of an old man) expression never changed. He had been waiting decades for this moment; years of planning and careful manipulation of the game were about to bear fruit. He snuck a look at Crayak, who was thoughtfully regarding a board to the left, and had to fight to keep a straight face. "He won't know what hit him." The Ellimist thought with great satisfaction.

Without warning, one of the chessboards at the very edge of the vortex jumped several thousand places, coming to rest beside a board close to the center. The play didn't stop there though. For just a moment, the boards overlapped and several of the pieces from one board slipped onto the line jumper. Before Crayak could register what happened or make any move to counteract, the board jumped again, hovering just in front of the Ellimist's face. This time he didn't bother to hide his wide grin as he met the shocked and angry gaze of his counterpart.

"Your move Crayak."


	2. the Animorphs in Alageasia

A/N: I must be cursed in some way; no one reviews my stories! Come on! I'll take anything, even flames at this point. Just let me know some of you are reading!!

Anyway for those of you who know nothing about animorphs, here's some info.

Morphing has a 2-hour time limit. Stay in a form other than your own for more than that; you stay forever. The members of the animorphs are Jake (the leader), Marco (his best friend with a sarcastic sense of humor and the most practical animorph), Cassie (animal expert), Rachel (Jake's crazy warrior cousin), Tobias (Trapped in hawk morph on their first mission, also Elfangor's son), and Ax (Elfangor's brother, resident Andalite).

Disclaimer: Whatever you recognize, I don't own.

Chapter 1

Marco

My name is Marco. You know me. There's always one like me, cute, funny, witty, did I mention cute? Ok, so I'm a little vertically challenged. Hey! Not even I can be perfect. You see, I've got this whole sexy Latino thing going. The olive skin, black hair, dark, sensuous eyes….I beat the girls off with a stick. At least, I would beat them off with a stick if I had any time at all to enjoy my inherent good looks. Unfortunately for all you ladies out there, I spend most of my time in a body not nearly as cute as I am usually, fighting egomaniacal slugs that want to take over the world. But you already know all about that.

Surprisingly, my current problem wasn't the Yeerks, or related to the Yeerks, or girls, or even homework. (Man I can't remember the last time I did some of that) Those things, I could handle without breaking a sweat. Heck, I could even handle my stepmother's poodle right now! No, my current problem stemmed from the fact that I was in a big forest with no map, no compass, and absolutely no idea how I had gotten here. And when I say big, I mean BIG. I had thought the national forest back home was huge, but it might as well have been scrub bush. It could probably have fit in this monster a good three or four times! At the moment I'm racking my brain, trying desperately to remember how I got into this mess, but nothing surfaces. I had gotten tired of walking a good few hours ago, so I was currently in osprey form, riding a sweet thermal. I'll tell you, some things about being an animorph really suck. Like turning into insects? That's gross. But there's one thing about being an animorph that definitely doesn't suck, and that's flying. Everyone's looked at a bird in the sky at least once in their lives and thought "that would be amazing". And you'd be right, more than right. You think flying is awesome? Man, you have no idea. It's like the best roller coaster in the world, only a thousand times better.

I had been flying for a while now. I had to be careful, I didn't have a watch (where's Ax and his internal clock when you need him?) and I didn't want to cut the time limit too close. Like I said, being a bird is awesome, but I don't think I'd like to stay permanently. After all, Tobias is already stuck as a hawk. I think one bird-boy in the group is enough. So therefore, I was being careful. I was about to find a nice place to demorph when I saw something that would scare the heck out of most normal people, but to me it was the most beautiful sight in the world. Looking like some absurd blue-furred centaur with a scorpion tail, two eyes on moveable stalks on his head, and no mouth, Aximili-Esgarouth-Isthill (or Ax) was trotting through a clearing beneath me. If ospreys could cry, I would've wept tears of joy. As our resident alien, Ax had a much better understanding of science and physics and other stuff that normal people try to pretend don't exist than any "primitive" human. If anyone knew what was going on and how we got here, it would be him.

Ax-man! I mentally yelled.

Marco? His shocked voice replied.

Who else? Hold on, I'm coming down. 

I folded my wings tight to my body and dove below the treetops, coming to rest on an oak branch close to Ax's head. Man Ax! I can't tell you how glad I am to see you. I've been flying for hours and I haven't seen any signs of civilization. I mean, come on! Not even a hunting cabin! I don't know about you, but I certainly don't remember a forest this big at home. 

Ax nodded his head, a gesture he picked up from us. I concur. I know of no such tree growth. But I think we should wait for the others to wake up before discussing this farther. I suspect it will be of interest to them also. 

I nearly fell from my perch. The others? They're here? Why didn't you say something? 

I swear he smiled. You neglected to ask. And I have been able to find only Prince Jake and Tobias. They are currently unconscious in the next clearing. If Rachel and Cassie are here, I have not found them. 

I fluttered to the ground and began the demorph I had forgotten about till now. "That doesn't mean anything Ax. I flew for hours. It was a miracle I found you at all." I pointed out before moving off in the direction Ax had indicated.

Walking beside me Ax agreed. But we couldn't start looking right now while Jake and Bird-boy were passed out on the ground. Who knew what could happen to them if we left. The image of Tobias hanging limply from a wolf's jaws came to mind and I forcefully pushed it away. No, until sleeping beauties 1 and 2 woke up, Cassie and Rachel were on their own.

Cassie

Waking up was like climbing out of a pool full of molasses; you would take two steps up, then slide back one. But even at half speed, eventually I became aware of warm sunshine on my face. I couldn't help it, I smiled. Light shone through my closed lids, wind rustled in the grass, and in the distance you could hear the hustle of a busy city market. Wait a minute.

Completely awake now, now eyes snapped open. Whatever I had expected to see, it wasn't this. I was currently sitting on a hill while a few miles away stood a massive city. But not just any city, this looked like something out of one of Rachel's fantasy books (A/N: Yes, in my world, Rachel reads fantasy, but she's never heard of Eragon). Speaking of Rachel, I suddenly noticed her lying beside me.

"Rachel!" I yelled.

I wasted no time in checking her pulse and breathing. She seemed fine, just out cold. _Now what?_ I thought to myself. Well, there was certain to be something in that city that could help us, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go down that train of thought yet. Something weird was going on. Since when do you wake up to find a fantastical city sprung up overnight? For that matter, since when you go to sleep in your bed and wake up on a hill, in front of a strange city, with no memory of how you got there? No, there was definitely something strange going on, I just didn't know what.

At that moment, Rachel gave a groan and rolled over on the ground.

"Rachel?" I asked. She just groaned again. "Rachel?"

"Five more minutes." She grumbled.

"Come on Rachel. Wake up. You have to see this!"

"See what?" She cracked open one eye, then jumped to her feet in surprise. "Holy…what the?…..What's going on?!"

"I have no clue," I said. "But somehow I have a really bad feeling about this."

Rachel snorted in agreement, never taking her eyes off the strange city. "We should go in there. We need to find out what's going on."

"Rachel, I don't know if that's such a good idea, I mean, we don't know who's in there, besides look at the place. We'll stick out like a sore thumb in our morphing suits."

Rachel sent me an obvious _come on, do you think I'm stupid?_ look. "I said we should go in there, I never said as ourselves. Come on, we'll be two more pigeons in the flock."

I had to admit that her reasoning was sound, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Marco

I was starting to think that they'd never wake up. In the time since I had gotten there, Ax and I had created a crude shelter out of branches, placed Jake inside (Tobias it didn't matter so much), started a small fire, and Ax had even managed to find some local fauna that wouldn't poison us (A/N: Ax reads encyclopedias like crazy remember). Believe me when I say I was glad for that little discovery. At this point I was so hungry I could've eaten Brussels sprouts. Yes, I was that desperate. Ax watched with interest as I shoveled the green leaves and such into my mouth with gusto.

I have wondered for some time, does one get more nutrients out of the food if one stuffs the food in all at once? And is there any correlation between the speed of intake and nutrient absorption? He asked.

I looked at him strangely. "Not that I know of Ax, why?"

I was just wondering. After all, in times when nutrients are needed most, humans tend to eat as you just demonstrated. 

I smiled through a mouthful of green. "No Ax, it's just that we're hungry and when we're hungry the body wants food very badly, so it makes you eat very quickly."

Oh, Ax said, I see. 

I just rolled my eyes before going back to my food. Or started to at least.

"Can you guys possibly keep it down?" Jake stumbled from the shelter, squinting and obviously only half awake as of yet. He looked around. "Marco? What's going on and more importantly, where are we?!"

"Congratulations oh fearless leader," I quipped in my usual witty manner, "You just found the question of the day! We all just woke up in a strange forest, with no memory of how, and no provisions. This stuff that Ax found isn't bad though." I held a handful of fauna in front of Jake's nose.

Jake just rolled his eyes, "Give me that." He retorted, then proceeded to stuff his face much as I had only a few minutes ago. Ax and I just looked at each other before I burst out laughing.

A few hours later it was dark, Tobias had woken up just in time to catch some supper before sundown, Ax had helped us find some more green stuff, and we even persuaded him to snag a rabbit that was sniffing about. Neither Jake or I are exactly boy scouts, but with Ax's tail we managed to get the meat of the skin (the skin's condition afterwards doesn't matter). Thus said rabbit was currently cooking in our fire while we just relaxed. It was kind of nice in a way. For once in a long time it felt like the good old times when Jake and I went camping. Ok, we were still in our parent's yard, but it's the idea that counts right? Anyway, for a moment life just felt simple again, no Yeerks, no battles, no running and screaming in terror, just four guys in the woods cooking some food over the fire.

The rabbit tasted great, the R&R was better. Eventually by unspoken agreement Tobias fluttered to a likely looking roost in a nearby tree while the rest of us dowsed the fire. Then Ax went to catch some sleep beside the shelter and Jake and I squeezed into the makeshift branch tent.

The next day started off beautiful with the sun rising into the sky, bathing everything in golden light. Jake and I had the rest of the fauna for breakfast while Tobias was hunting and Ax grazed. Once everyone had fulfilled their dietary needs for the moment. Jake sat down in front of the fire pit. Internally I groaned. I could tell from his face that rest and relaxation time was over; it was time to face the issue at hand.

"Ok, enough's enough," He said. "We need to figure out what's going on, where we are, and most importantly, how we're getting home. I feel really uneasy being here and leaving our home unprotected." I sat down on a log beside him as he looked around at us. "The floor's open for suggestions."

"Could the Yeerks have brought us here for that reason?" I wondered. "They bring us here and while we stumble around in the woods they cause trouble at home?"

Doesn't make sense, Tobias quickly pointed out. If they had figured out who you were and where we all lived they would've just killed us. They would have to have that kind of knowledge in order to do what you're suggesting. 

Jake piped in, "Last night I was thinking how similar this was to when we were transported back to the Cretatious period. Could it be the same? Another Siaro Rip?"

We all looked to Ax, the only one of us with any knowledge on rips in space and time. Perhaps, He thought-spoke slowly. But I have no memory of an explosion big enough to create such a phenomenon, or any explosion for that matter. Do you? we all shook our heads. Besides, I have never heard of a Siaro Rip having effects on such a large scale. We weren't together at the time of our transport as far as I can recall. Even if there were such an occurrence, the odds of only us four being transported is extremely low. Rationally you would expect several miles of your city and forest to be transferred with us. 

"So that theory doesn't make sense either." I could tell Jake was getting frustrated.

There's one option we haven't considered yet, Tobias said from a nearby branch. What do we know of that can consciously select four different people, miles apart, and transport them to a strange place without the use of a Siaro Rip, or an alien transporter, or any other phenomenon known in the natural or technological world? 

We all looked up to him sharply. "You think the Ellimist had something to do with this?" Jake asked. It made sense. "But if he's the one behind this, why didn't Cassie and Rachel not get transported with us, usually he doesn't break us up."

"He also usually asks before whisking us away to some place with only our wits to help us," I pointed out. "And we don't know that they aren't here, I flew for hours before finding you guys."

"It's the most plausible theory right now," Jake decided, standing up. I quickly followed his lead. "If that is the case, he sent us for a reason. We need to know what that is and we need to know if the girls are here to. We have two priorities, find the girls, and gather information about this place. Let's go raptor."

A few minutes later, four birds of prey took to the air. I don't know how long we flew, we had to take several breaks to demorph in any case. Down below, all we could see was forest, as far as the raptor eye could see. For those of you who don't know about raptor eyes, let me say this, they're amazing. You can read a book from like a mile away. As I said before, this was the granddaddy of all forests. It wasn't until after about the third rest stop that we saw something out of the ordinary.

What are those, eagles? Jake asked of the creatures doing the coolest flips and twists in midair, far in the distance.

A blue eagle? Tobias laughed, for one of them was unmistakable blue. Besides, they're too big, WAY to big. 

Let's check it out, Jake decided. But be careful. If the Ellimist did send us here, I don't think it was to be lunch for those things. 

More like an appetizer. I joked nervously. Now that we were closer I could tell Tobias was right, these things were to us what a Jumbo jet was to a paper airplane.

A few minutes later, we were close enough to recognize the creatures. I nearly forgot to flap my wings I was so shocked, and everyone (with the possible exception of Ax) reacted much the same way.

Ah, Jake, I murmured, not believing my eyes. Are those dragons? 

A/N: I hope you liked it, if so review. I hope you didn't hate it, but if you did, review. Like I said, at this point I'll take anything. Next chapter brings in Eragon and Co. I just thought this chapter was necessary for a smooth crossover. And what'll happen to Cassie and Rachel? Which city were they transported to? Wait and see!


	3. Dragons!

A/N: Sorry for the wait on this one. I don't really have an excuse, I just haven't gotten around to updating. I also have to apologize to some of my readers. I've been informed by some of the Animorph fans that are reading this that they know nothing about Eragon. Therefore I'll try to work some history into this chapter so you guys aren't completely lost. For those who do know about Eragon, I'll ask you to bear with me. Spoilers for Eldest.

Disclaimer: I don't own Eragon or Animorphs.

Chapter 2

Eragon looked down on the seemingly endless ocean of trees that was Du Welldenvarden (A/N: spelling?), the forest home of the elves, and for the first time in weeks, allowed himself to just enjoy life. He could feel Saphira's wings beat strongly underneath him as the blue dragon twisted and dived through the air beside Gleadr, the golden dragon and her forming an exhilarating aerial dance that was beautiful to behold and even more wondrous to be part of. Eragon's joy resounded across the telepathic link he had with his dragon and mixed with Saphira's own. It felt like such a long time since they had last flown just for the sake of flying; it felt good.

Only a few weeks had passed since the battle on the Burning Planes between the oppressive King Galbatorix and the rebel freedom fighters known as the Varden, only a few weeks since Eragon had been reunited with his cousin Roran and had gone with him to rescue Katrina, Roran's fiancé who was prisoner to the Empire's vilest servants, creatures called the Ra'zac. She had been held at the Ra'zac's lair outside Dras Leona, one of the largest cities in Galbatorix's empire and far too close to the king for Eragon's liking. Yet as stupid as flying right into the heart of enemy territory was, Eragon had owed it to Roran. After all, the Ra'zac would never have come to their village if Eragon hadn't found Saphira; Katrina's abduction was essentially his fault. Considering how many things could've gone wrong however, the rescue went fairly smoothly. They made it to Dras Leona without suspicion, a miracle within itself, dispatched the Ra'zac with minimal damage to themselves, and got Katrina out before the Empire could figure out what was happening. They had then fled back to Surda, a small country south of the Empire, and more importantly, allied with the Varden. Eragon had left the reunited couple there and returned to Elvin lands to finish his training as a dragon rider at the hands of Gleadr and his rider, Oromis. Looking back now, Eragon could scarcely believe that it had gone as well as it did.

"_You and me both,"_ Saphira said in his mind _"It was a foolish idea."_

_"A foolish idea that had to be acted upon," _shot back Eragon, _"I owed it to Roran, I promised him. How am I any better than the King if I don't keep my word?"_

Saphira apparently had no argument against that, as she remained silent. For several minutes the aerial dance continued before Gleadr spoke, _"Enough for today, both Oromis and I are weary. Let us return to Ellesmera." _(A/N: the elvin capitol for those who don't know)

Eragon nodded and the two dragons turned in the air and began heading back to the city. Something was bothering Eragon during the flight, a feeling at the back of his mind, growing with every minute. He felt like someone was watching them, following them. Frowning, Eragon reached out with his mind, trying to find the source of his disquiet. He touched four minds, three of them undeniably human and young, but the last was different. It was unlike anything he had ever felt, but before he could investigate further, the mind abruptly shut him out. A magic user? It had to be, for very few but those who practiced magic would block their mind in such a way. "Master Oromis," he yelled across to mentor, "There are three humans following us, along with one mind I can make no sense of, save that it can block me from it's thoughts."

Startled out of his trance, Oromis looked into space for a moment as he himself scanned the area, then his eyes widened. "You're correct Eragon, but here is something even more puzzling, none of them are on the ground."

Eragon quickly turned in his saddle, searching the sky for those following. He saw nothing that immediately struck him as odd. _Invisible?_ He wondered to himself. If the mind he had touched was indeed a magic user, the possibility was definitely there.

"Should we turn to confront them Master?" The young rider asked.

Oromis seemed to consider for a moment, then answered. "They have not attacked us and have given no reason for us to attack them. Indeed they are giving off much curiousity but very little hostility, open or otherwise."

Eragon nodded his head; he had perceived much the same thing.

"On the other hand," Oromis continued. "They are within elvin lands without the elves' knowledge and there is one among them who may well wield magic, added to the fact that they apparently have the gift of flight. They are perilously close to Ellesmera and have seen Gleadr. We can ill afford such information to reach the king." The old rider paused. "Perhaps a confrontation is an order, but not here. They are not close enough to have seen you or I, head to that outcropping," he said, pointing to the east. "Perhaps there we can get some answers."

Tobias POV

An Animorph's life is full of strange experiences. In the last few months, I've met aliens, flown in spaceships, been trapped in the body of a hawk, watched my friends turn into countless animals, gone into battle against body-stealing parasites, found out that my father was an Andalite, worked for an almost-all-powerful entity, and gone back in time. But dragons, Dragons?! Every time I think my life can't get any weirder, fate comes and proves me wrong.

(What are these dragons?) Ax asked, completely baffled by our shocked reaction.

(They're mythological creatures of great power,) I responded. (They're not supposed to exist!)

(Ahhh,) Ax replied in understanding. (Yet as we are currently following two of these 'dragons', we must assume that belief to be incorrect.)

(Apparently.) Marco interjected dryly.

(In human legends,) Ax continued after a moment. (Do these dragons have any telepathic ability?)

(Not that I know of,) Jake answered. (Why?)

(A near-by mind has tried to contact my own,) Ax sounded puzzled. (As we have seen little other life, I was wondering if it could've been one of the creatures we are following.)

(Telepathic dragons?! This just keeps getting weirder by the moment.) Marco, of course.

(There's no proof of that Marco.) I pointed out.

(Tobias is right,) Jake said. (It could be something with shape-changing abilities, like us. For all we know, it could be a squirrel on one of the trees down there, or maybe whatever it is has some sort of stealth technology.)

(It appears that the creatures are going to land on that outcropping ahead.) Ax interrupted.

Sure enough, the two great beast were coming to rest on the rock. Their scales flashed in the sun like gems as they lay down, folding their huge wings against their sides.

(How were we keeping up?) I mumbled absently to myself.

(What was that Tobias?) Jake asked.

(Well, just look at the size of those wings. With wings that big we should've been left in the dust. Granted we were having to hurry a bit, but they weren't nearly as far ahead as they should've been.)

(Maybe they were just taking their time.) Marco suggested.

(Yeah maybe.) I wasn't convinced, I suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

We were now close enough to make out the details of the surrounding area. The dragons were resting on a sort of shelf in the cliff face. There was no way anything there was getting away unless it could fly. The two creatures were just sitting there, perfectly still, as if they were waiting for something.

(This scream out 'trap' to anyone else?) Marco asked.

(Yeah,) Jake agreed, obviously thinking. (But we have no idea what's going on here and I want some answers. We still check this out, but from a safe distance. Land above them, we can watch from there.)

We had barely reached the outcropping when I heard a voice yell out something I couldn't understand. That wasn't unexpected, we were in a strange place with dragons in it and I kind of doubted the locals spoke English. What did surprise me, was that the words hadn't even faded away when I felt like something grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I was slowly being drawn down to the dragon's shelf and was completely paralyzed. I couldn't move! From my friend's cries, I figured they were in a similar situation. Were these beasts telekinetic too? But that didn't explain the voice.

The four of us were set with surprising gentleness onto the ground in front of the two creatures. By the way, did I mention that they were BIG? I mean, good grief, the gold one had to be as large as most houses I've seen! Just then, two men stepped out from behind the beasts. From here I could just see the small cave opening that the dragons had been blocking from our view thus far. They were two of the strangest humans I had ever seen. One was much younger than the other, both were dressed in what looked like medieval type clothes, and their features were strangely angled and exotic (though less so on the younger). But the strangest feature, they both had pointed ears.

The younger man was also holding a bow, drawn back, with a very real and very sharp looking arrow in it, pointed as us.

"Change back," the young man ordered shortly. "I've touched your minds and I know you're human. Except for you." He said, gesturing with his bow toward Ax. "But even so, you're not what you appear. Change back. Now."

I turned my head to look at Jake. Great, what now?

A/N: Once again, I apologize for the wait. Hopefully next chapter I'll work Cassie and Rachel back into the story. I hope I've covered enough of the Eragon history that the Animorph fans that are reading this aren't totally lost. If not, tell me and I'll try to answer your questions in the next installment. The same goes for any unanswered questions about the Animorphs. Any reviews would be much appreciated. Until next time!


	4. Uru'bean

A/N: Again I apologize for the wait. In my defense, I'm working somewhere where there isn't much Internet access, so I haven't even had time to get on fanfiction for a few months. Anyway, like I promised, we're going to catch up a bit with Rachel and Cassie. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Animorphs and Eragon don't belong to me, they belong to their respective authors and publishers. Brialla is mine though.

Chapter 3

Rachel's POV

The city was even more beautiful from above, if that was even possible. It was like someone took every straight, ugly line usually found in architecture and curved it to form graceful swoops and arches. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, and as an Animorph, that's saying something.

Soon after coming across the "fearie city" as I was beginning to call it in my head, both Cassie and I agreed that some intel/recon work was an order. We had been torn away from everything familiar and thrown someplace that looks like it came out of a fantasy book. Even for us, this was not normal. We were tired, confused, and frustrated. We wanted some answers. We had been flying over the city in raptor morph for about half the day, finding abandoned corners and alleys every few hours for demorphing purposes. I know the preferred morph for this sort of thing is usually seagull or pigeon or something of the sort, they're some of the few birds that can be seen pretty much anywhere without seeming suspicious, except here. This was probably the first time in my life that flying around as an eagle was equally, if not more, inconspicuous than flying around as a seagull. I don't know where we were, but they had a serious lack of airborne scavengers. Besides, I didn't want to miss any detail on the ground and raptor vision is by far the best I've experienced.

I don't know what exactly we were looking for, but whatever it was, we hadn't found it yet. In fact, all I had were more questions. As well as looking like an exert from Lord of the Rings, the city was primitive in the extreme. I hadn't seen a single power line, car, cell phone, or anything more advanced than a wagon and metal tools. Even the clothes looked like something out of the dark ages! The most annoying thing was that no one had a watch. Unlike Ax, who has a sort of internal clock, it's sometimes hard for the rest of us Animorphs to know exactly how long we've been in morph. Usually we can keep track by looking down at people's wristwatches, but that wasn't an option here and the lack of certainty was making me nervous. Don't get me wrong, I love being an eagle, I just don't know if I want to live out the rest of my life as one.

(Demorph?) Cassie asked from where she was riding a thermal about 50 ft. above me.

(Might as well,) I replied. (I don't see anything I haven't seen a million times before.)

I banked sharply and headed down to the abandoned ally Cassie and I had claimed at the beginning of the day. Landing, I quickly focused on my usual appearance and within a few minutes there was a very out of place Rachel standing on the street stones, joined in a moment by a very out of place looking Cassie.

"This is stupid," Were the first words out of my mouth once I was myself again. "We've been flying around for pretty much the whole day and we haven't figured out anything except that these people are as backwards as Marco's brain wiring."

Our situation was anything but funny, but Cassie couldn't help a small smile from touching her face.

"Your right," She said. "This isn't working. We need a new game plan."

"I say we just go out there and start asking questions."

"Right," She drawled. "Then what do I do after they cart you off the psyche-ward, or whatever the equivalent of a psyche-ward is here in fearie world? I think we're going to have to be a bit more subtle then that."

I fell silent for a moment thinking, before I took a deep breath. "OK, first things first. We need clothes. People will be even more suspicious of us if we go walking around in just our morphing outfits. We stick out like sore thumbs."

"Yeah no kidding. But here's a question, how're we going to get them? We have no money."

I gave Cassie a meaningful look.

"Steal them!?" She shrieked, figuring out what I had in mind. "Are you nuts? I'm not stealing someone's clothes."

"It's the only way." I retorted, "Unless you have a better idea?"

Silence

"Ok, here's what we do. We go mouse or fly or something, sneak into one of these inns, find a room with some extra clothes, change and walk out the door as guests. Easy as pie."

Cassie sighed, "I really don't like this. But I don't see what choice we have."

Without any further conversation, we began to morph

Cassie's POV

The plan went off as easily as Rachel described. Within half an hour we were dressed for success and moving seamlessly through the city streets. Or, at least, Rachel was. I couldn't understand at first why we were getting stares, we were dressed like everyone else weren't we? And I know Rachel is good looking, but not enough to justify the attention we were getting. What were we doing wrong? It clicked when I lifted my hand to brush it through my hair in frustration, my very _black_ hand.

"You've got to be kidding." I moaned softly. I had never had a real problem with racism before. Half a day flying above the city and I missed the fact that everyone was white. One thing was for sure, I wasn't helping us get any answers by being the proverbial fly in the milk glass.

"Umm, maybe I should go back to aerial surveillance." I suggested.

Rachel looked at me like I had grown two heads, "Why? You're not going to see anything different than we were seeing all morning."

I sighed to myself silently. That was Rachel all right, completely oblivious to anything involving human interaction. "No, most likely I won't see anything new or interesting, but our goal here is to fit in. With me up there, you might have a better chance of getting some answers down here."

It took Rachel a moment to figure out what I meant, then her eyes widened in understanding. "OH…sure,,,,,ummm, Ok then," She seemed to pull herself together at that point. "It's probably a good idea to have backup in the air anyway, you know, in case something unforeseen happens."

Without waiting for another word, I turned back to the inn where we got our clothes.

Brialla rushed through the streets of Uru'bean, wisps of her long brown hair escaping from the captivity of her braid and flying free as she ran. Her blue eyes wild, she hurdled down the streets, trying to wrap her mind around what she had just seen. Anyone looking at her would've noticed nothing out of the ordinary, just one of a thousand tavern wenches hurrying to her evening work. Her dress was plain and her shoes were worn, her young face was already drawn from years of hardship and her features were entirely unremarkable. No one observing her would see anything that distinguished this woman from anyone else. Which is exactly why she was a useful agent for the Varden. The rebels needed to keep an eye on what was going on behind enemy lines after all, and city officials and the like always had looser tongues after those tongues had been bathed in ale and wine. Brialla was talented in making people's eyes slide right over her as she worked, a talent the Varden had made full use of in the years since they approached her. It was also this talent that had just given her the show of her life.

She had been minding her own business, cleaning the guest rooms in the inn/tavern where she had worked since she was little more than a child. There had been little out of the ordinary that day, at one point she thought she saw a blond girl in a dress another lady had been wearing the night before, but she chalked it up to "their business, not hers" and went along with her day. She had been straightening the curtains in the one room they had overlooking the back ally when she noticed two girls a bit younger than her talking outside. One was the blonde girl in the stolen dress, but it was the other that caught Brialla's attention. Her skin was a rich chocolate brown, far darker than anything the city-born wench had ever seen, and her hair was cropped incredibly short, within a few inches of her scalp. But perhaps the strangest thing was her clothing, it seemed to be one piece, black, and sported no distinguishable decoration. It also fit more tightly than many would deem appropriate, the material flowed over the dark girl's flesh like a second skin, ending at the wrists and ankles with a rounded neckline falling a little below the hollow of the throat. All in all, she was a strange sight, yet the pretty blonde beside her was speaking as if her appearance was the most normal thing in the world. This was strange enough, but what happened next made all else pale. The dark girl nodded as if agreeing with something her companion had said and turned towards the front of the ally. Surely she did not mean to walk through the streets like that?! But she did not walk to the mouth; she just stood there for a moment, looking out into space. Brialla had rubbed her eyes, sure that they were tricking her, but no. The girl was shrinking! And at the same time, her body was twisting, changing. Feathers seemed to appear, as if drawn onto her skin before raising out of her flesh like flowers in spring and becoming real. Human features melted together, mouth and nose fusing into a wickedly carved beak. Knees suddenly reversed direction (an action that made Brialla wince) while toes fused to become talons. Where a girl had stood only moments before, a bird of prey launched itself into the air. The other girl showed no reaction as her companion changed, as if she had seen it a million times before. Once her companion-turned-bird was airborne she walked calmly to ally's mouth, pausing only to look up and locate her friend. Satisfied, she nodded to herself and quickly disappeared into the crowded streets.

Brialla had stood stock still, as if frozen, her mind refusing to process the impossible event she had just witnessed. Then, as if her body had suddenly remembered how to move, she surged out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the inn. She had to report this to her Varden contacts, something as strange as this could not be ignored.

Rachel's POV

Subtle questions throughout the rest of the day had been a bit more productive than the hours preceding it. As far as we could tell, we were in a place called Alageasia and the city was Uru'bean, and it was the capitol of an empire. The king's name was Galbatorix and he ruled, as far as we could see, with an iron fist. I also heard a couple of references to the king's "pet" rider. What that meant, I have no idea. What was a rider, a rider of what, horses? That seemed unlikely seeing as the context implied "riding" was something distinguishable, something few other people could do. I also caught a few low whispers of someone or something called the Varden. Again I have no idea what that is, but from the way people were acting it wasn't something you wanted to be overheard talking about. And once, only once, I overheard two old men whispering very quietly about another "rider" named Eragon Shadeslayer, who apparently doesn't like this King Galbatorix very much. Here again I heard the term Varden, more frequently than I had all day, and from the sounds of it this "Eragon" was part of it. Maybe the Varden were rebels or terrorists? Finally, and perhaps most disturbingly, we had seen no evidence of Yeerk activity. As far as we knew, the Yeerks have infiltrated pretty much the entire planet at some level. As glad as I was to have one less thing to worry about, it begged the question of where or when exactly we were and how we could get back. Don't get me wrong! I enjoy a little spontaneous time travel as much as the next person, but we had a war to fight. While Cassie and I were enjoying a first hand lesson about medieval lifestyle, our Earth was two animorphs short. When there are only six to begin with, that's quite a loss. We had to get home. Unfortunately, we had no idea how to get that kind information without making people suspicious or attracting attention.

First things first though. It had been a long, tiring, frustrating day and neither Cassie or I had had anything to eat. We needed a hot meal and a warm bed, in that order. I felt bad about stealing but as we were still lacking somewhat in the financial department, we had no choice. We considered going to a different inn than the one I got my clothes at (what if someone recognized the dress?), but finally decided against it. People would be less likely to ask questions in an establishment where I had been seen walking around all day. Cassie would be confined to our room unless she was in morph, but that would be the case anywhere we went.

I don't pretend to be any kind of expert on stealing, but I thought I did fairly well. With half an hour I was back in our pilfered room with two small loaves of bread I had hidden under my dress and no one the wiser. You know how they say hunger makes everything taste better? They're right. That bread was some of the best food I had ever had in my life. After supper, Cassie volunteered to take first watch in case someone decided to come in and said she would wake me in a few hours. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Brialla tiptoed away from the door she had seen the blond girl go through. Her contact from the Varden had given her instructions to shadow and observe the two if she saw them again and report back her findings . What were the odds that out of all inns in the city, they had chosen hers to rest for the night? Fortune had certainly smiled on her.

Questions swirled through her head. Who was the dark shape shifter? Did her pretty companion share her power? How did she do it? And perhaps most importantly, do they work for Galbatorix? The blonde, she had found out, had been asking well-phrased and subtle questions all day on a variety of subjects, but never once had she dug for information on the Varden, or Eragon Shadeslayer, or even tried to gauge the people's opinion of their king, all things that Brialla would expect an agent of the Empire to do. If they were working for the King, their goal and purpose were a mystery to her. Indeed, the girl seemed to be asking questions that would reveal things about the land itself, it's borders, it's cities, it's people, things everyone knows from the time they are children. Perhaps they are testing the common people's education? But why have such a powerful agent as a shape shifter perform such a mundane task? Perhaps she was just lulling people into complacency, asking many questions and gradually moving the topic to more sensitive areas so people don't get suspicious? It was a possibility.

In any case she had the pair's location, which she would report immediately. No doubt her contact would very much like to speak with these two before they vanished into the city come morning.

Cassie's POV

It began as a prickle in the back of my mind, a feeling of uneasiness that I had no explanation for, but it was enough to wake me up. I looked drowsily around the room, but found nothing to explain what had woken me. Apparently whatever it was though, Rachel felt it too. As she had been on watch, she was much more alert than me and was scanning the room intently, every muscle tense, ready to leap up and no doubt ready to morph at the slightest disturbance. It was the benefit that came with fighting for so long. It was like a second sense; neither of us could consciously explain how we knew something was going to happen, only that it was.

A noise caught my ear. Both of us were beyond silent, we were the definition of silent, sitting there on the edge of our seats, waiting for a confirming sound. There it was, a small thump like you would make if you were walking down a hallway and didn't want to be heard. Rachel and I looked at each other, both our gazes asking the same thing, stay or run?

The choice was taken out of our hands in the next minute though. With a suddenness that scared me, our door was broken in from the outside and men streamed in, arrows notched and pointed right at us, swords worn comfortably at their sides.

I jumped off the bed, picturing the wolf in my mind, but I already knew it was pointless. Even I couldn't out morph a speeding arrow and even if I did, wolves are tough, but they can't survive being turned into a living quiver. Besides, this might just be a robbery or something and the last thing we needed was people going through the city (Uru'bean, I corrected myself) telling tales of two shape changing warriors. I stole a glance at Rachel, hoping beyond hope that she had come to the same conclusion. Apparently she had, because she was still her blonde haired, blue-eyed self, and was glaring daggers at the man who had just stepped into the room. He too had a blade at his side, but he held no bow and I noticed that the other intruders were looking at him out of the corners of there eyes, as if for instruction. This was the leader then.

Again it seemed that Rachel had reached the same conclusion. A dark glower still on her face, she walked seemingly oblivious of the arrows pointed her way to stand right before him and look him in the eye.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's rude not to knock?" She growled.

I groaned silently, Rachel's diplomatic skills left much to be desired, and I had no desire to get shot. At her comment several pairs of eyes narrowed and several bowstrings were pulled back just a little bit tighter, but the man simply smiled. "They have," He replied in a calm, controlled voice. "But then again, I have also been told that it's wrong to steal, and that includes taking room and board without paying for it."

Rachel's expression darkened even farther, "Who are you and what do you want?" She snapped.

"Right to the point then, very well. My name is inconsequential and I see no reason to share it. As to why I am here, it is less what I want and more what my superiors want. And my superiors want to know what a pair of very odd young ladies, one of which we have proof is a shape shifter, are doing going around the lower streets of Uru'bean asking questions, most of which are as inconsequential as my name."

"If they're inconsequential, why does it matter if we ask them?" I had to ask.

His gaze snapped toward me, "Because of who you are and what you can do. If you are working for the king, I must see that whatever he is scheming doesn't come to fruitation. If you are out of his grasp, I must assure that you remain that way. The Varden can hardly afford such servants as yourselves to be in his employ! Thus, you will accompany me to a place where you will be out of his reach. If you do not work for the king, and for your sake I hope you don't, perhaps a position within the Varden is available. Or if you choose, I'm sure you can find a rich and happy existence outside the empire. But first I must know," He looked at me. "We already know of your abilities my lady, but I am most curious as to if you possess them as well." He said, turning his eyes to Rachel.

"That information is inconsequential and I see no reason to share it." She mocked icily.

This time the man threw back his head and laughed. "I'll take that as a yes then. You have both courage and poise my lady, I'll give you that. Now, shall we?" He asked, bowing to the door as if escorting us to a ball and not incarceration.

With so many sharp and painful looking objects pointed at us, we didn't have much choice.

A/N: So, there it is. Rachel and Cassie are in the hands of the Varden. What's going to happen? You're just going to have to wait and find out. As always, any feedback is welcome.


	5. first meetings

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me.

Flashback

"_Change back," the young man ordered shortly. "I've touched your minds and I know you're human. Except for you." He said, gesturing with his bow toward Ax. "But even so, you're not what you appear. Change back. Now."_

_I turned my head to look at Jake. Great, now what?_

And here we go.

Chapter 4

Jake's POV

I racked my brain, trying to think of a way out of this mess. I knew enough about archery to know there was no way we could fly off without getting shot, that guy held the bow like he knew how to use it. Everyone was looking to me for a clue of what to do, but I was stuck. _Come on Jake, Think!!_

The elf-guy's eyes narrowed behind the drawn arrow shaft. "I won't ask again." He growled dangerously.

(Can't do it Jake,) Tobias immediately said.

(Yeah,) Marco agreed. (This stinks like 'Yeerk trick' to me.)

(The Yeerks have no knowledge that you are humans,) Ax pointed out. (And if they were Yeerks they would have recognized me as an Andalite, which they did not.)

(So they found out,) Marco shot back. (Maybe they figured out that we're human but not which humans we are. We demorph and we hand our identities over on a silver platter.)

(Even if they aren't Yeerks, we can't afford people going around talking about shape-shifting people and blue furred aliens. These guys might honestly not know what we are, but the Yeerks won't share that ignorance.)

Tobias was right, and Marco was right. But that didn't help us find a solution. Meanwhile, elf-man was getting impatient. His hand drew back the arrow a fraction more and it was obvious he was going to shoot unless we gave an answer within the next three seconds. I made a flash decision.

(Alright! You win!) I cried.

(What are you doing Man?!) Exclaimed Marco. (We can't demorph!)

(We don't have a choice.) I countered. (Ax, I want you to demorph as quickly as you possibly can, get your tail into play. I don't see a dracon beam on either of these guys, if they are Yeerks, Ax can take them out. If they aren't, hopefully we can talk our way out of this.)

We fell silent, concentrating on our natural forms (or unnatural in Tobias's case). All around me feathers were melting into skin, fierce yellow eyes mellowed to more gentle shades and shapes, and killer talons transformed to feet or hooves. I kept my eyes fixed on the strangers, looking for any hint of Yeerk presence. Now, most Yeerks are very good actors; they fool the friends and family of their host every day. But Ax's natural form was unraveling fast and no matter how convincing the act, there isn't a Yeerk alive who can look at an Andalite without fear or loathing, and vice versa. The hatred the two races have for each other is almost sacred. These guys facing us? They looked surprised, shocked, and confused (not unreasonable considering what they were witnessing), but not angry, and not afraid. Whoever they were, they weren't Yeerks. _At least something is going right today._ I thought to myself.

For a few moments we just stood there, looking at each other. Elf-boy hadn't lowered his bow yet, but he seemed less tense. Who could blame him? We were on a cliff shelf, steep drops on all sides. We weren't exactly going anywhere. After a while, Marco decided to break the silence. "So we're human. What now?"

The young one seemed to snap out of his reverie. He narrowed his eyes. "Now you will explain your presence here."

Marco snorted. "Our presence where? We weren't hurting anyone. As far as Iknow, flying over a forest isn't a crime."

The side of the older guy's mouth twitched briefly. "Perhaps in gentler times, that was the case." His eyes hardened. "But these are not gentle times. Galbatorix's spies are everywhere and you are in Elvin lands, you will explain yourselves."

Marco looked like he was about to make another smart comment, but I sent him a look and he closed his mouth. If we had violated some kind of border rule, the last thing we needed was to insult these guys more than we already had. Turning back to our captors, I chose my words carefully. "We didn't know we were in your territory. I'm sorry if we offended you at all, but we're not from around here. In fact, we don't even know where we are. As for this Galbatorix (I stumbled a little over the unfamiliar name), I've never heard of them, much spying for them."

Elf senior (as I was beginning to think of him) cocked his head to the side curiously while the younger one gave us a very odd look. "Where have you been that you don't know about Galbatorix? And, while we're at it, what is he?" Elf junior asked, jerking the still taut bow in Ax's direction.

I sighed, the less these people knew the better, and those were definitely on my list of questions I didn't want to answer.

"Look," Tobias interjected. "We already said we were sorry; it was an honest mistake. You obviously don't want us here and we don't want any trouble, so just point us in direction you want us to go, and we'll leave. No harm done."

Senior shook his head. "That is not possible. Regardless of your intentions, you have entered Elvin lands, you have seen the dragons and perhaps even some Elvin settlements as you flew. You may not have recognized them, but the King would, should he ever enter your thoughts. It is not a risk we can take. Besides, you will not say where you are from, nor have you even given your names. How can we trust you to leave this place bearing possibly sensitive information if you will not trust us even that much?"

"Maybe we'd be more willing if we weren't staring down an arrow!" I snapped, finally loosing my temper. "If you haven't noticed, we're not exactly going anywhere. Even if we did manage to change, you have two very large dragons behind you. What do you think we could possibly do?"

I felt a tingling sensation at the base of my skull, but ignored it. After what felt like an eternity of silence, the bow slowly lowered. Then to my absolute amazement, junior smiled. "My name is Eragon."

Eragon looked down the shaft of his drawn arrow, pondering his next move. In the time since Saphira hatched, He had seen some strange things, but never anything like this. The creature that was able to block his thoughts was especially strange. It looked like some experiment with magic gone horrible wrong. What kind of creature had blue fur and eyes coming out of its head? And that tail! It looked similar to a desert arachnid that I had read about in one of Oromis's scrolls. Was this tail poisoned as well? Eragon decided he didn't wish to find out. It also had no mouth (how did it eat?), which explained why it was so adept at shielding itself. It must communicate mind to mind. Eragon reached out to Oromis. _What do you think Master?_

_I sense no deception from them._ Oromis replied._ But we must be sure. The strange one can block any attempted intrusion, but the others cannot. Try to probe them without their notice._

He did as asked, delving shallowly into the humans' thoughts and memories to avoid detection. What he saw shocked him, carriages without horses? Huge flying machines? Weapons that could destroy miles of land at a time? Enemies from the stars? It was more than he could comprehend. He looked at these strangers with new respect. Six against an empire, and he thought his task was impossible! As he lowered his bow, he shared what he had seen with Oromis. These people were from nowhere in Alageasia, and would not be a threat unless given a reason. _Indeed,_ Eragon thought. _Given their abilities, we may have found some formidable allies._

He smiled and approached the leader, "My name is Eragon," He began. "This is my dragon, Saphira, and my masters."

Oromis nodded acknowledgment, "I am Oromis, and this is Gleadr."

If Eragon expected information in return, he was very much disappointed. They absorbed the new knowledge quietly. "Your silence is pointless." Oromis said. "Eragon has looked into your minds, we know of your names and your war. We have never heard of these Yeerks against whom you fight, but they sound to be a powerful enemy. I don't know how you came to be in this land, but perhaps if you accompany us to Ellesmera, some light may be shed on this situation. Besides, I am certain that our Queen would wish to speak with you."

The four Animorphs looked at each other. "Better than flying around randomly." Marco pointed out. "It's not like we have a better idea."

(We have already established that if it was the Ellimist who is responsible for us being here, we are likely here for a purpose.) Ax interjected. (Perhaps among these people, that purpose will become clearer.)

"And if that is the case," Tobias said. "The sooner we figure out why we're here, the sooner we get home. We have our own war to fight and it's not here."

"It's better than doing nothing," Jake agreed; he turned to Eragon and Oromis. "Lead the way."

A/N: I figured you guys would be getting impatient with me so I was in a hurry to get this one up. For that reason, there are probably a good number of grammatical errors. In my defense, I've been working in the middle of nowhere with no Internet access and now I'm busy with University. Also, I wanted to do this one right. The most difficult part of writing a fanfiction is when the characters from the different fandoms first meet. I've seen sooo many crossovers with great ideas, but the initial meeting chapter was botched and awkward. I hope I did ok. Let me know! I'll try to be more consistent but I'm not making any promises, and my chapters will probably be pretty short from here on in. Probably the same length or shorter than this one.HH


	6. explanations and Ellesmera

A/N: I'll hopefully get Rachel and Cassie in either at the end of this chapter or the beginning of the next one. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Especially for pointing out my typo (elvin vs. elven), I can't spell to save my life! lol. Anyway, here we go.

Chapter 5

Marco's POV

Despite what our new 'friends' said about us being close to the city, we flew for a good long time before arriving at Ellesmera. _Ellesmera._ I snorted mentally. _Who named these places, J.R.R. Tolkien? _Even flying as fast as we could (and I suspected that the dragons were slowing down quite a bit for our benefit) we had to demorph once on the way, an event that led to a lot of questions.

Flashback 

"You mean you can't stay in a form indefinitely?" Asked Eragon while we rested and regained our strength for a moment.

"Not unless it's our natural one." Jake replied shortly. "And I thought you had gone into our heads, wouldn't you know that already?"

"My probe was shallow," Eragon explained. "Just enough to verify your story. Now that we know you don't work for the king, probing any deeper would be rude." He looked up at Tobias in confusion. "Why do you not change back Tobias?"

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Just because we weren't shooting at each other didn't mean we wanted them to know anything more than they already did. Finally, Jake gave a sort of why-not shrug and nodded at Tobias to explain. Rude or not, this guy had proven that he could just go get the answers we didn't give him. Besides, if we were in another world (something that was looking more and more likely), we could use all the friends we could get.

(I'm the reason that we have to change.) Tobias said with a humorless laugh. (There's a time limit to our power. Stay in a body for more than 2 hours and you stay forever.)

Eragon wore a mask of shock. "Then..you're.."

(For the rest of my life.) Tobias interjected easily. (It's not so bad. The Ellimist gave me my power back and I have the sky. I'm probably happier than I was as a human anyway.)

Now it was Oromis's chance to look confused. "The Ellimist?"

End Flashback 

Anyway, hours later, we arrived at this so-called city of theirs. I kept looking across the sea of trees, expecting to see stone buildings rising above the green waves. No such luck. We were all really confused when Saphira (Gleadr had broken off some time ago) began to descend. It wasn't until we were below the trees that we began to see signs of a civilization. Even then, everything blended with the forest. It was no wonder we hadn't seen any settlements while we were flying, we could've flown right over them without noticing! Eragon's 'house' was just as spectacular. It was like the tree house that you fantasize about when you're a little kid.

There was a beautiful female elf waiting for us in the living area. She and Eragon held a short conversation in what I assumed was Elven while we landed and demorphed. After we were ourselves again, the two turned towards us. "Make yourselves comfortable, but don't leave this structure. Arya here will keep you company," Eragon said, gesturing to his companion. "I have to report to the Queen. Oromis told her the basics, but she would like to know the specifics" my stomach chose this moment to let out a loud growl. Eragon smiled. "I'll see about sending up some food." His smile turned into a thoughtful frown as he regarded Ax. "What exactly do you eat?"

(My people are grazers.)

(They absorb the nutrients through their hooves.) Tobias supplied, seeing the incredulous look on the Rider's face. (Umm, as much as I understand why you don't want us just running around without the official ok, Ax and I are pretty hungry and eating up here might be difficult. He needs to run in order to graze and I need to hunt.)

Eragon considered him. "You eat as a hawk does as well?"

Tobias nodded (a thoroughly strange thing to see on a bird). (I don't have much choice. This system can only handle meat. Preferably raw.)

Saphira solved the problem. _I will watch over them, I needed to hunt myself._ Eragon nodded assent and left the 'house' to meet the Queen.

An awkward silence fell over the room once he, Saphira, Tobias, and Ax had gone. "So.." I said, breaking the silence. "You guys are really elves?" I heard Jake groan behind me but Arya simply seemed amused.

"We are." She responded calmly. "Do you not have elves where you come from?"

"Only in fairy tales and legends." Jake laughed.

Arya seemed to study us for a moment. "Your shape changing abilities are truly fascinating, yet you use no words of the ancient language. How is this magic done?"

"No magic." I said. "Just technology."

I got a blank look. "Using our knowledge of how things work to manipulate things." Jake supplied. "We used a device created by Ax's race that gave us our powers. When we touch an animal we can absorb it's DNA and then become it. There are no magic words or anything."

Arya nodded slowly, as if trying to digest this new information. She still looked slightly perplexed. "What is..DNA?."

I groaned, this was going to be a long few hours.

Tobias's POV

I saw the grass twitch slightly as a mouse brushed past. _Excellent,_ I thought. _I'm starving._ A few minutes later I was flying back to my perch, mouse dangling from my talons.

_Well-done small one._ Saphira commented from a few hundred meters away where she was enjoying her buck.

(Thank you.) I replied smugly. It was amazing what a full stomach did to your mood. I looked up to see Ax making his way towards us. He had gone to a separate meadow as to not disturb my hunting. (Finished Ax-man?)

(I will take a small drink from the stream and then yes, I will be finished.)

I was done the mouse by the time Ax came back. Saphira was finished as well, but seemed to be in no hurry as she stretched out on the grass beside us. (Shouldn't we be heading back?) I asked.

_Eragon is still speaking to the Queen. _She replied. _There is no hurry. We may as well digest a bit before flying. Besides, if we are to be allies I should like to learn more about you, and I am sure you have questions for me._

(True enough,) I conceded. (Ok, first question, who is this King that everyone keeps talking about. I mean, I get that he's not a nice guy, but what's the deal?)

The dragon's voice was hard. _King Galbatorix is a traitor and tyrant, a Rider who turned on his fellows an decimated the old order. The Rider's were once a powerful force. Their numbers were great and with their wisdom they maintained order for centuries. Galbatorix and his followers destroyed the peace they had once worked to maintain. They destroyed the Riders and killed the dragons, forced the elves and dwarves into hiding, and took over the land. Now there are only 5 dragons left that we know of, including the egg in the King's possession that hasn't hatched yet._

(Of the four who have hatched, how many are your allies?) Ax asked.

_Only Gleadr and myself, although the Rider who serves Galbatorix doesn't do so of his own free will._

(Brainwashed?) I asked.

Saphira shook her huge head. _Bound by magic_. She corrected. _An oath spoken in the ancient language is magically binding. Murtagh and his dragon Thorn were forced to swear fealty to the King and, as such, must serve and obey him._ She looked very sad at that moment._ It is a tragic fate._ She seemed to pull herself together. _What of your homes? Eragon skimmed your mind Tobias, but not yours Ax and he did not probe deep enough to reveal much personal information. I am curious Tobias, did your family not notice when you did not come home, or do they know of your.._ She seemed to be searching for the right word. _..condition?_

(Nahh) I replied. (I sort of skipped back and forth between my aunt and uncle. Neither really noticed that I even existed. When this happened (I looked down at myself) I just sent and message to each saying that I was staying with the other. It seemed to work, at least, they haven't reported me missing yet.)

Saphira looked to Ax.

(My home is very different than anything you have seen. Too different to explain in words and do it any justice. I have not seen it or my parents in many years. My brother, regrettably, was killed in the initial fight for Earth.)

(He was the one who gave our friends and us our powers.) I added.softly. (He was also my father.)

_I thought you were human?_

(I am, I think.) I said. (It's a really long story.)

_I would imagine._ She laughed. Suddenly she sobered. _You have much bravely, all of you. You have given up much and face seemingly insurmountable odds, yet you do not give up._

I shrugged again. (If we don't fight, who will? It's not like we can just let it happen.)

Saphira gave a draconic smile. _Well-said little one, well said._ She looked up at the sky. _I think we have tarried long enough. Let's go back._

A/N: I'm going to assume that a similar Q and A session went on with Arya and the others so we can assume that everyone's in the loop next chapter. Anyways, I think that one turned out well. Tell me what you think. Review please!


	7. getting to know you

A/N: As promised, I'm beginning this chapter with Rachel and Cassie.

Cassie's POV

Any romantic notions I had of medieval life were flown out the window, the last few days had been miserable. It was raining, any kind of waterproof material was centuries away from invention, and my butt was tenderer than I could ever remember it being. This really sucked! Our escort (more like captors) wouldn't let us fly, but rationally I couldn't blame them. No matter what we said, they weren't completely convinced we weren't working for this King of theirs, so they weren't going to take the risk of us just flying away. Rachel and I of all people could understand their paranoia. These people were part of a rebellion, an underground movement; every one of them was taking a risk by simply letting us see their faces. As much as I hated the situation we were in, as much as I wanted to go raptor and disappear into the sky, I understood where he was coming from. To be perfectly honest, neither Rachel nor I had made much of an effort to escape. These people watched us every minute of they day; they obviously didn't trust us, but none of them had tried to hurt us. They hadn't offered us that much information, but we had been pretty tight-lipped ourselves. And in all reality, Rachel and I were in a world neither of us recognized with no idea how to get home. Prisoners or not, at least this way we were going somewhere; it was better than flying around randomly or tripping over ourselves trying to find answers.

They hadn't tied us, but we were thoroughly surrounded. If either one of us had started to morph, we would've had about 20 arrows in our gut before we knew what hit us. The most annoying thing was not being able to talk to each other without these 'Varden' hearing us. I have never been so sorry that thought-speak doesn't work when in human form. Unable to communicate with each other, we resigned ourselves to quiet observation. If we were silent and didn't say anything, we figured that eventually someone would let something slip. The information they ended up giving us was insignificant to them, just repeating general knowledge, but that was exactly what we wanted. What we ended up learning, common knowledge or not, was mind blowing.

Dragons! Honest to goodness, straight out of fairy tales dragons ridden by a select few. And once I swear I hear two of the men whispering about elves. "When I said we had fallen into Lord of the Rings," Rachel had whispered one evening. "I wasn't actually serious!"

The day had started much like any other. We were woken at the crack of dawn and given breakfast. Two soldiers watched us closely as we rolled up our blankets and mounted our horses. After the camp was broken and our 'escort' had formed around us, we began to move. I was still tired but at least today the weather had broken. It was beautiful and sunny, and after days of riding, my saddles sores were beginning to fade. Rachel was still in agony, but I had more experience than her when it comes to riding. I looked longingly into the sky. Flying would be heaven today. The air was cool and there'd be no thermals, but the wind would be at our backs and keeping up to horses on the ground would've been a piece of cake. From Rachel's expression, she was thinking the same thing. I caught her looking at the clouds more than once, especially when we spotted and eagle soaring in the distance.

The leader of the group had chosen to ride beside us today. He had said little since the first night, but seemed civil enough. He was doing this because he had no other choice, not out of malice. As long as we didn't try and escape, he was content to let us be. If we didn't make trouble, he wouldn't give us any. He must've seen the look on our faces, because when I next met his eyes he was regarding us with an intense expression. "Thinking of making a break?" His voice was sharp as he flicked his eyes upward.

Rachel gave a rather unladylike snort and glared at the road ahead. I hurried to explain when I saw the man's eyes narrow. "My friend means that escaping would be pointless. Even if we managed it, we wouldn't be any better off. We have nowhere to go and while we may not appreciate being captives, you haven't hurt us yet."

His eyes relaxed as he looked ahead again. A small smile touched his face as he caught sight of the eagle in the distance. He turned back to us. "You just want to be up there don't you? You want to fly for the sake of flying." He grew quiet for a moment. "What's it like?" For the first time, he seemed almost hesitant, a little awed. I could sense the same thing about the men around us. They were looking at us through the corner of their eyes, waiting with baited breath for our answer. Rachel looked perplexed at their behavior and it took me a minute to get it. These people had a deeply ingrained respect for the dragons they talked about, and just as much respect for dragonriders. Flying was something that only dragonriders did, something they all wished they could do. Something they all dreamed of. It bordered on sacred for them. Rachel looked like she was going to say something rude, but I cut her off. "It's incredible," I said softly. "You're free and exhilarated and scared all at once. We've done some amazing things in our lives, but nothing is better than flying. There are no words that do it justice."

The soldiers nodded and went quiet, while their leader looked thoughtful. Cassie knew that nothing had changed, they were still being held captive and they weren't trusted. Still, the atmosphere in the group was a good deal less tense than it had been in previous days.

A/N: Sorry about the length, but this was just something I cooked up to let you know I'm still alive. I haven't had a lot of time with exams and school and everything, but I'm trying to get my chapters up faster.


	8. suspicions and a fight

Eragon's POV

A/N: Yes, I know it's been a long time and I'm truly sorry. You've all been so kind with your reviews and your patience. I have to admit that part of the reason it's been taking me so long is I don't really have a concrete idea where I'm going with this. I mean, I do, but I'm not sure how I'm going to get there yet. So I'll put this out, this is you're time to shine! I need help and suggestions. Any thoughts on where you want this story to go would be wonderful. Now that that's out of the way, on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.

Eragon barely noticed his surroundings as he walked back to his quarters, lost in his own thoughts. The events of the day and his audience with the Queen had given him much to consider. Arya met him at the door.

"The meeting went well?" She asked, using the ancient language.

"Well enough considering the strangeness of the tale." I responded.

She nodded her head. "It does seem unbelievable." She said thoughtfully. "But I sense no deception from them, and we have already seen their shape-changing abilities. I do not think that this is a trick of the King. They seem to have no better idea than we of how they came to be here, save that this great entity called 'Ellimist' might be involved."

Eragon agreed. Their tale was so absurd that it had to be true. "This might work out well for us." He pointed out. "They seem to think that, if it was indeed this Ellimist who put them here, they are here for a reason. That fact may make it easier for us to persuade them to help our cause. Their 'morphing' abilities could come in very useful."

"It gives me hope." Arya smiled. "For if an entity as powerful as they describe has indeed sent them, than that entity has taken interest in our plight. With such powerful support, perhaps we have a chance after all. And you are right about the usefulness of their abilities." She added.

"You know, it's usually polite to speak in a language that everyone in the room can understand." A wry voice came from behind Arya. As she moved to the side so that they might both enter the house, Eragon saw that it was the one called Marco.

Arya smiled apologetically and conceded the point.

Just then, Saphira and her charges returned from their meal. All three looked considerably more cheerful now that they had something in their bellies.

_Good hunting?_ Eragon asked privately.

_Good hunting. _Saphira confirmed. _And hopefully a shedding of suspicions between our two groups._

_A good thing._ Eragon replied. _We need as many allies as we can get._

Saphira agreed silently as Eragon turned his attention to their visitors, who were unusually silent. Jake was nodding his head thoughtfully. _'receiving a report of events from the other two.' _Eragon guessed. His guess was confirmed a moment later.

"Ok," Jake started. "From what I can tell, we now all have about the same amount of background info, so we can dispense with the question and answer session. Now what?" He asked, directing the question to Eragon and Arya.

"Now the queen will wish to speak with you and hear your tale for herself. It is she who will likely decide what our next course of action will be." Arya responded without missing a beat.

The Animorphs all nodded, accepting the new development. "Fair enough," Marco said. "When's this meeting supposed to happen?"

"The Queen has summoned you for an audience tomorrow morning. After that we'll see what happens." Eragon replied. "For now though, you are to rest and make yourself comfortable. You may explore the city if you wish, on the condition that Arya, Saphira, or I accompany you ."

(Did she mention any other people like us that had been found in the area?) Tobias asked. (The four of us ended up in about the same place, even though we started out miles apart in our world, but Rachel and Cassie are missing.)

Eragon shook his head.

"We don't even know if they're here." Marco pointed out. "In fact, considering that we did end up together even though we weren't even close to each other when we started, they probably aren't here, or they just would've ended up with us."

"I almost hope that they're not." Jake said. "If we're all here, than there's no one defending Earth. It's bad enough that the Animorph presence is down by three quarters at the very least."

"If this is the Ellimist's work, I'm really tempted to give him a piece of my mind, nearly all powerful or not." Marco scowled. "I mean, it's not enough that he thinks he can jerk us around like puppets on a string and get us to do all his dirty work, but this is taking us away from a place that truly needs us. No offense," He added, glancing at the two non-Animorphs listening in on the conversation. "But this place obviously has people fighting the evil guys, Earth doesn't. If we're gone, there's no one else. While we're here relaxing in the mother of all tree forts, the Yeerks could be making serious advances on our home, and we'd never know about it, much less be able to stop it. If he ever decided to show his face here, I'm all for telling him where to stuff his get-the-Animorphs-to-run-my-errands attitude."

(Once again, we have no proof that it's the Ellimist that's behind this.) Tobias repeated. (Usually he asks before whisking us off to the other side of the multi-verse or whatever.)

(He is the Ellimist.) Ax pointed out. (No one truly understands the reasoning behind his decisions, nor the game that he plays with Crayak.)

Jake's POV

A horrible thought stuck me when Ax said those words. I froze, feeling as if my blood had turned to ice water. "What if we're going about this all wrong?" I murmured softly, interrupting the pending debate. "What if it's not the Ellimist that's behind this at all? What if it's Crayak?"

There was dead silence as the three of them absorbed that little tidbit. Their faces displayed varying degrees of horror, none of us had considered that possibility.

"Who is Crayak?" Asked an extremely perplexed Eragon. Arya had a similar puzzled look on her face.

"You know how we told you about the Ellimist?" Marco asked. Arya, Saphira, and Eragon all nodded their heads. "Well Crayak is his opposite, the black to his white, the yang to his yin. From what we can tell, he has all of the Ellimist's power, and none of his good intentions. Crayak is evil incarnate."

(We've all seen him.) Tobias almost whispered. (Jake more than the rest of us, but still. I'll never forget that feeling when he looked at you, like he could see right through you, like you were some kind of insect he was considering squishing. And that voice, it made you feel as if you were nothing; you wanted to huddle in a corner and cover your ears…) He trailed off and all three of us shuddered at the memory.

Arya and Eragon looked fairly disturbed, but asked no further questions. Marco broke the uncomfortable silence. "I'm not sure I see the reasoning though, why would Crayak bring us here?"

"To get us out of the way." I explained, feeling more than a little ill. "Crayak is trying to beat the Ellimist and Earth is one of the games they're playing. We already know that Crayak is motivating the Yeerks, and the Ellimist has us. Crayak eliminates us from the field, there's nothing to stop him from winning."

The other three had to admit that it made a sort of terrible sense. (Why would not Crayak simply destroy us?) Ax asked. (Surely it would be easier to do so if he wished us out of his way. And well within his power.)

(Rules of engagement.) Tobias immediately piped in. (Neither side can interfere directly like that, remember? They can manipulate, they can move things around and act indirectly, but they can't just reach in and destroy the opposition.)

"Tobias is right." I agreed. "If the rules let him destroy us, he would've done it a long time ago, or the Ellimist would've just reached in and gotten rid of the Howlers before they could cause the damage they did. Either way, maybe sending us here doesn't break the rules somehow."

Arya, Saphira, and Eragon now looked utterly lost (as much as a huge dragon can look lost), but I didn't pause the conversation to explain things to them. The others had apparently forgotten that they were there.

"That could also explain why Cassie and Rachel aren't here." Marco said thoughtfully. "Maybe part of the rules says that Earth can't be left completely undefended, so Crayak could only send four instead of all six of us."

(Or perhaps we were right the first time and it is the actions of the Ellimist that have brought us here. Perhaps we have either not discovered the others' locations yet or, knowing that Earth had to be defended, the Ellimist left Cassie and Rachel behind intentionally for that very purpose.) Ax said. (There is no way to know until we have more information.)

"Agreed." I said firmly. "And all we're doing is going in circles at this point." I nodded to Eragon. "Lets do like the man said and catch some R&R while we have the chance. We can worry about the other stuff tomorrow. Lets hope this Queen can shed some light on the situation."

Back to Cassie and Rachel

Rachel's POV

I…wanted….to…FLY! I'd never realized how much time I actually spent in the air since I got my power before, but I felt crippled somehow. It was absurd of course, I had spent the majority of my life exclusively on the ground, but now that I couldn't just morph and fly away, it was driving me crazy. It had only been a few days since I had felt the wind beneath my wings, but it felt like an eternity. I suddenly realized that this was the longest I had gone without flying since I first acquired a bird. It was like I was addicted, riding under the open sky without being up there was absolute torture.

It was so weird, I remember when morphing was the strangest thing, like something out of science fiction novel. Now I had not only accepted it as part of my life, but not morphing for any period of time felt weird. Since when did my own body start to feel uncomfortable? I kept catching myself wishing I was in bear morph, or eagle morph, my skin itched with the desire to change.

The realization came like a slap in the face. I'm not ordinarily a very introspective person, but maybe it was just because for the first time in a long time I had time to think. I had hours and hours where there was nothing to do but watch the road and reflect on life. I had never questioned what the war was doing to me, I mean, sure I knew that I wasn't the average teenager anymore, but there was nothing I could do to change that or avoid the change, so I guess I never bothered thinking about it. Sure I had the nightmares and the horrors and when I looked in the mirror my eyes looked too hard to be mine, but I never really stopped to reflect on the change. It's necessary, I had thought, there's no point in dwelling on something you can't do anything about. Normally I was too busy to give the idea any space in my brain, but now that I did, I had to honestly wonder about what I was becoming. Thinking about it didn't change the fact that the sacrifice was necessary of course, but the thought itself was still disconcerting now that I had acknowledged it.

The change was even more noticeable on Cassie, I realized as we rode. Cassie was once the most gentle and conscientious person I knew. When did her eyes get so old? And I didn't remember her ever having a grim expression like the one on her face right now. I shook my head, we had all changed so much.

The leader of our little troupe (who still hadn't told us his name) was riding in the front today. Suddenly he stopped and lifted a fist to signal that we should all do the same. Everyone was still and silent, and somehow I got the idea that asking what was going on would be a bad idea. Bows were fitted with arrows and swords were loosened in their sheaths. Then I felt it, the prickling on the back of your neck, the sixth sense you develop after fighting for so long.. Something was very wrong.

Slowly so that I didn't make any noise, I slid from my horse and Cassie, catching my reasoning, did the same. We got a few glares and incredulous looks, but I really didn't care. They had bigger problems to point their bows at than us and if something was going to go down I damn well didn't want to be stuck on that horse when it did. I needed room and time to morph.

Figuring that beginning the morph once it actually hit the fan would be a little late, both Cassie and I began the change. We had gotten better at it since we had first started. Where before the morph would take full minutes, now it was much faster.

As soon as the changes became obvious, more than a few bows turned our way. As soon as I could, I used my thought-speak. (Point those the other way!) I sneered. (If there's going to be a fight, who do you want on your side, an unarmed girl or a grizzly bear?)

(And a wolf.) Cassie added, having completed her own morph. (I don't know about you, but I know what I would choose.)

The men looked unsure for a minute, but a hiss from the front brought their attention outside the group once more. "Urgals." More than one man muttered ominously.

Now, neither Cassie or I had any idea what an Urgal was, but we had heard passing references to them in Uru'bean. From what we had gathered, they weren't very nice.

The men were whipping their heads around looking for the enemy. They don't know where the attack is going to come from, I realized.

(Cassie.) I thought privately. (Can you tell where they are?)

She lifted her nose and sniffed for a moment, then gave a sneeze. (Oh! That's horrible!) She gagged, shaking her head. (That's worse than my Dad's socks!)

(Where are they?) I asked, trying to stay on topic.

(I can't tell, their smell is everywhere and the wind is wrong. I can just tell that they're there.)

Wonderful I thought, walking into a fight blind. Then again, that could describe most of our fights as Animorphs. Hey, maybe as a novelty, we won't be horribly outnumbered for once, I thought cynically. Yeah…right.

Cassie's head suddenly snapped to the side. (Right!) She cried in open thought-speak.

Most of the men jumped at hearing her voice in their heads, but to their credit and the credit of their training, most instinctively turned their bows to the side, following Cassie's instruction. A moment later, a truly ugly humanoid burst out of the bush, whooping a war cry, and was subsequently turned into a sort of living quiver. The thing gave a strangled cry, then fell dead to the ground.

There was no time to celebrate the minor victory though, the thing hadn't even finished its fall when the road was suddenly overrun with similar creatures. I found that I was almost relieved, fighting was normal and familiar. After being thrown into a strange place without warning or apparent cause, familiarity was nice. The setting and enemies were different, but a fight is a fight.

Rising back to my full grizzly bear height, I bellowed a challenge that would make most grown adults run screaming for mommy and had the satisfaction of seeing several of the creatures scramble back and away from me. I wasn't having any of that though. After days of forced inactivity, I was up for a little action. They wanted a fight? I was only too happy to oblige.

Giving another bellow for good measure, I charged straight at them, a rolling ball of fur, claws and muscle. One of the things swung its sword clumsily at my side, but there was no way I was going to be stopped once I had my momentum up. I took the hit to my side without flinching (it stung, but there hadn't been much strength behind the blow. It would take more than that to phase me) and buried the stupid thing underneath my bulk and momentum. I felt my claws dig into flesh as I ran it over. Several of the things tried to jump me at once, hoping to confuse me with their multiple weapons, but I was used to fighting hork-bajir with the odds against me. Compared to those walking salad shooters, these things were lightweights.

Behind me, I could hear the sounds of battle, swords clashing, cries of pain and Cassie's lupine growls. I had never gotten a good count of the things when they first attacked us, but there were already a good deal less of the things than I remembered. They apparently hadn't scouted their prey well enough, because while they outnumbered our little group, every one traveling with us were obviously skilled warriors. They might have had the numbers, but we outgunned them, badly.

I was almost sorry when the last of the things ran screaming into the bush in complete retreat. Despite what Marco thinks, I'm not bloodthirsty, but the small skirmish had allowed me to release some of my frustration and anxiety. It was cathartic.

As the group began to regain their wits, both Cassie and I demorphed. It occurred to me that we could use the confusion to escape fairly easily, the group was too busy regaining its composure to offer us any real resistance. Judging from the way Cassie was biting her lip, she had deduced much the same thing. I sent her a questioning look. Stay or go? She shook her head almost imperceptibly and went to recollect her horse. Nodding in agreement, I followed her. We were still limited by our ignorance, so escaping would be pointless. Besides, these seemed to be pretty decent people and we were starting to build some trust with them, there was no reason to ruin that by trying to escape. Maybe they would even allow us a little more freedom now that we had helped them defend themselves. Or at the very least, perhaps they wouldn't be so tight-lipped now that some of them owed us their lives.

None of the men around us had been killed or even seriously injured. After the minor cuts had been cleaned and bandaged, we set out again. The leader dropped back beside us after a few minutes of riding.

He obviously had something on his mind, but was silent for a long time, organizing his thoughts I guess. "You didn't have to help us back there." He finally blurted.

"No," I stated. "We didn't."

"You could've gotten away after battle was joined." He pressed.

"Probably." I agreed easily.

He fell silent again, thinking that over. After a long silence, he shook his head and seemed to snap out of it. "I saw you take a hit to the side my lady," He said directing his words to me. "Do you not need the wound bound?"

I looked at him in confusion before remembering that he didn't understand how our power worked. He had no idea that any would had disappeared with the bear. I debated blowing the question off, but we were living in close quarters and being watched every minute, it wouldn't take him long to figure out that there was no wound. Besides, we had just started to break the ice with these guys, not answering his question wouldn't help anything.

I offered a sly smile as I met his eyes. "The bear was hurt," I said. "Not me."

He could figure it out from there I thought. And if he couldn't, I wasn't going to explain it to him. He held my eyes for a long moment before dipping his head and moving off, looking to the rest of his troop.

"Was that smart?" Cassie asked beside me.

"Maybe not." I conceded. "But there was no point not answering, he would've found out anyway."

Nodding acceptance, Cassie fell silent once more.

We were just getting ready to crawl into our bedrolls that night when the leader approached us once more. "I need a scout." He started without preamble. "I don't want to walk into another ambush without some kind of warning. I could send one of my men to ride ahead, but having someone in the air as well would be helpful."

"You're letting us fly?" I asked incredulously.

"Just one of you at a time." He clarified. "From what I've seen in the last few days, you two are very close. Neither of you will try to escape if the other is still held by us. Besides, you helped us today when you didn't have to, despite the fact that we have taken you captive and you could've easily escaped in the confusion. In my mind, you've proven yourself at least somewhat trustworthy."

Without another word, he turned and walked away. Cassie and I traded looks and shrugs, then climbed into our rolls to get some rest. It took me a long time to get to sleep, anticipation was burning through my veins. Even once I did manage to drop off, I dreamed of clouds and wind beneath my wings.

A/N: There you go. I tried to make the easing of tensions between the groups as realistic as possible and I thought I did a pretty good job. What do you think? Too gradual? Too rushed? Feedback please!


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